Johnson & Johnson has kicked off a final 60,000-person trial of a single-shot COVID-19 vaccine that potentially would simplify distribution of millions of doses compared with leading rivals using two doses.
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EUROPE
* Britain reported 6178 new daily cases on Wednesday, the highest since May 1, as the government defended its new, stricter measures against criticism that they did not got far enough, saying it was trying to balance supporting the economy while protecting health.
* Authorities in Spain's Madrid region requested urgent help to hire hundreds of foreign doctors and reinforce police as they mulled widening a partial lockdown to more areas.
* Germany's health minister urged users of a smartphone app to help trace infections to upload positive test results into the system,so that others at risk get a timely warning.
* Paris and 10 other big French cities have been placed on a new "high alert" level for coronavirus infections and will face new restrictions, Health Minister Olivier Veran says.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Organisers of the delayed Tokyo Olympics will require COVID-19 tests for non-Japanese athletes and other participants upon arrival.
* Indonesia reported 4465 new cases on Wednesday, its biggest daily rise.
* India's infections surged again on Wednesday, a day after hitting their lowest in almost a month.
AMERICAS
* Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will unveil on Wednesday what he says is a far-reaching plan to help the economy recover from the pandemic while ensuring efforts to fight the outbreak do not falter.
* Mexico's confirmed cases rose to 705,263 on Tuesday along with a reported death toll of 74,348.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday reported its highest daily number of infections since the start of the pandemic at 1083 new cases.
* Ethiopia has agreed to buy 1.5 million testing kits that will be made at a factory there that has been newly built by China's BGI Group.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Britain will host clinical trials where volunteers are deliberately infected with the new coronavirus to test the effectiveness of vaccine candidates, the Financial Times reported. AstraZeneca and Sanofi said that they are not involved in the planned trial.
Australian Associated Press